Method of making draft-gear yokes



A. J. CANFIELD.

METHOD OF MAKING DRAFT GEAR YOKES.

APPLICATION man APR-20. 1920.

1,404,833, Patented Jan. 31,1922.

rs!) STATE QABTHURJa CANFIELD, or IVlZO NTIt E-AL QUEBEC, CANADA.

. METHOD onMAKnve mosses;

' i Application n a aiirii'ao,

Be it known that I, .ARlI-IUR CANFIELD, a citizenl'oit theUnited States, and resident of the city 'of' Montreal, in the Province of Quebec and Dominion of Canada, have" ii1- vented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Making Draft Gear Yokes, of which the following is 'ajfull, clear, andexact description" This invention relates an improved process ormethod for the manufacture of draft gear yokesarid the object'ofthe invention is to provide for the manufacture of seamless, one-piece yokes in an expeditious and economical manner.

At the present time, yokes" are for the most part manufactured by forging or welding two or moremembersjtogether and it has been found thatsuch yokes have atendency to'iailure atone or other of the welds. l

ccording to the present invention the yoke is made in'one piece. A suitable length of seamless steel tubing of appropriate diameter and'wallthickne ss is formed to the desired shape by a series of suitable torging and, cutting operations V r In the drawings which illustrate vention;-

Fig.1 is a perspective view of a length of tube.

Figs. 2 to 1 inclusive are perspective views illustrating different stages of the manufacture.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the complete yoke.

Figs. 6 and 7 are fragmentary perspective views illustrating different methods of closing the inner end of the yoke. Referring more particularly to the drawings, 11 designates a tubular body open at both ends and provided at a suitable stage in the manufacture with two opposite fiat sides 12 and two intermediateopposite flat edges or remaining sides 13. The body is of greater depth in a portion 16 at one end than in the remainder of the body and may, if desired, be also of greater width in this portion. The top and bottom 12 in the enlarged portion 1a are separated'to form jaws 15 which are thickened at their tips, as at the in- 16, and slotted as at 17 from the thickened n'imrrsennn Yokes,

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J an. 31, 1922.,

1920'. "seriarm; 375,302,

and these extendingportions '18 are: con- Ii'ectedtogetherin any suitable manner as bymeans of rivets 19 to close the end of the body. "The top and bottom of the body are provided with openings 20 oisuitable size forthe introduction of draft gear springs.

Thepro cess of makingthe body may vary in details and in theorder'o-fits steps according to circumstances such as the partlCHlZLT'IlESigIX OT the finished article, the

quality of the material andithe capabilities ot-the plant. For these reasons, the following description must notbe regarded as limitative but merely as descriptive of one sequenceof particular steps. Starting with a suitable length of seamless steel tubing forming a; hollow body 11, the body is reduced by a for-ginger pressing operationto tl'IGfOIID'ShOWII'IILFIgUI'Q 2, that 1s, a hollow bodyrectangular, in cross section and having =a portion 14:- towaritl one end of greaterdeptlrth'an the remainder of the body. '.ll1e;tubular body 11, whichis the raw materialsupplied for theca rrying out of this process, may be eithercyhndrical as shown in Figure 1 or may be rectangular.

in cross section. If a cylindrical body is started with, the ii'rstoperation will be a flattening one which will include the formation'of the'large end portion 14, but, it the raw material isrectangular in cross section, the first operation will be merely one of forgin to form the enlarged portion 14.

The edges of the body in the enlarged por-.

tion are now cut away, as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 2, the cutting being effected either by shearing or burning away the metal with an oxyacetylene flame or welding arc. This forms separate 1' aws on the top and bottom of the body, which in the next operation are drawn out to the tapering form shown in Flgure 3. While the jaws are being drawn out, two opposite sides at the opposite end of the body may also be drawn out to project beyond the remaining sides, as shown at 18. This drawing out may be eii'ected in the top and bottom, as

shown, or may be in the edges 13 if desired,

as shown inFigure 7. The body is now placed in suitable dies and the aws 15 sub jected to a swaging or upsetting operation,

which gives them their final shape and at the same time thickens their extremities, forming the bosses 16. In this swaging op eration, the aws may also be spread apart as will. be seen by a comparison of Figures 3 and It will be understood that this spreading is not essential but is merely a matter of design. The jaws are next slotted,

press and the openings 20 may be formed in the same manner or by burning out the metal to be removed, as described in connec tion with the formation of the jaws. The

drawn out end portions 18 are now bent over the end of the body to close the same and connected together by rivets 19 or by any suitableformof weld. I

While from the order of the steps in the foregoing description, it will appear that the end closing is the last step in the manu- 1 facture, it must be understood that this is not in any way essential, as these ends may be connected together at any desired time alfter their formation. It will also be understood that they may be. connected together in any suitable manner, of which only two examples are shown, one illustrating the drawn out top and bottom connected together and the other illustrating the. drawn out edges connected together.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that a draft gear yoke or the like produced according to this invention is fon all practical purposes seamless (the seam connecting the endv portions 18 not being considered as it in no way affects the strength of' the yoke). The process is a simple straightforward one and of such nature that it will consolidate the metal and remove flaws or low density spots, which I would he points of inherent weakness in the use of special tools other than the necessary dies.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is r 1. In a process of making draft gear yokes, the step of closing one end of a tube.

2. In a process of making dralft gear yokes, the. steps of forming tongues at one end of a'tubular body open at both ends and uniting said tongues to close one end of the body. V 3.. In a process of making draft gear yokes, the steps of flattening to rectangular form a length of cylindrical tubing open at both ends, forming jaws on opposite sides of the rectangular body at one end thereof and folding said jaws over the end of the body in a manner to close the same and connecting the folded jaws. V

4. A process of making draft gear yokes, which comprises forming jaws at one end of a tubular body, drawing out portions at the opposite end of the body, connecting said drawn out portions together, slotting the jaws and opening opposite sides of the body.

5. A method of making draft gear yokes, which comprises flattening to rectangular form a length of cylindrical seamless tubing open at both ends, forming j aws at one end of said body, closing the opposite end of the body, slotting the jaws, and opening diametrically opposite sides of the body.

6. A method according to claim 5, having the additional step of enlarging that end of the body fromwhich the jaws are formed prior to the formation of. the jaws.

In witness whereof, I'have hereunto set my hand.

ARTHUR J. GANFIELD. 

